In the company I work for, we do have a similar situation. The way I see it is this:
Development and programming are "high profile" jobs. Basically, a programmer (or group of programmers) creates a product that they can then show to the "business". The Business likes to see new products. They like them even more when they work properly. This is something tangible that they can sell. Programmers get recognition from business people and are percieved to be valuable employees.
System Administration, while being avery bit as creative and difficult as good programming, is more of a "behind the scenes" job. There is really nothing tangible to show to the "business" after you spent four nights in a row getting your server farm operational. I believe this stems from the business' perception of "If I buy a computer and press the power button, of course it will turn on". All they know is that they purchased machines, and now they are running. To a great extent, you can not explain the job of a sysadmin to anyone who has never been a sysadmin.
I am a sysadmin myself, however I do dabble in programming. I don't think that either of these jobs are more difficult or creative than the other, just different. Because of the nature of the relation between IT and business, programmers will probably always be higher profile than sysadmins. I think as long as everyone understands that without good sysadmins, programming would be a nightmare, and without programmers, system administration would be meaningless and unneccessary, it all evens out in the end.
Slashdot Mirror
Now, now. You're not being very PC about this.
.02
In the company I work for, we do have a similar situation. The way I see it is this:
Development and programming are "high profile" jobs. Basically, a programmer (or group of programmers) creates a product that they can then show to the "business". The Business likes to see new products. They like them even more when they work properly. This is something tangible that they can sell. Programmers get recognition from business people and are percieved to be valuable employees.
System Administration, while being avery bit as creative and difficult as good programming, is more of a "behind the scenes" job. There is really nothing tangible to show to the "business" after you spent four nights in a row getting your server farm operational. I believe this stems from the business' perception of "If I buy a computer and press the power button, of course it will turn on". All they know is that they purchased machines, and now they are running. To a great extent, you can not explain the job of a sysadmin to anyone who has never been a sysadmin.
I am a sysadmin myself, however I do dabble in programming. I don't think that either of these jobs are more difficult or creative than the other, just different. Because of the nature of the relation between IT and business, programmers will probably always be higher profile than sysadmins. I think as long as everyone understands that without good sysadmins, programming would be a nightmare, and without programmers, system administration would be meaningless and unneccessary, it all evens out in the end.
Just my